This being my first attempt at a diary it is almost certainly not written up to the normal standard that is maintained around here. There is probably nothing new for the regular reader of DailyKOS and those who do read it are not really the target audience. What follows is simply a list of 10 facts I find it hard to believe so few people in this country accept and 5 questions I desperately seek conservative answers to. I am posting it for feedback, constructive criticism and/or corrections as well as the fact that, hey, you have to start somewhere.
Thanks for reading, enjoy.
FACTS:
- George W. Bush signed the TARP bank bailout into law in October of 2008 after it was approved by large bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate. (source)
- In total the TARP and Automobile bailouts will have cost taxpayers about half of what the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s did and arguably avoided a second great depression. Most of the companies bailed out have now paid back, with interest, the money they received. (source)
- The "Stimulus" of 2009 was 33% tax cuts. The CBO estimates that it has created or saved millions of jobs. (source)
- Barack Obama was born in Hawaii; his birth certificate was released by his campaign in June 2008. His parents even had an announcement of his birth in the local newspaper. (source)
- The CBO estimates that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will reduce the federal deficit by $143 billion dollars over its first decade and by $1.2 trillion in the second. (source)
- Under Obama firearm restrictions have decreased. It is now legal to carry weapons on trains and in parks. No gun control legislation has been passed under Obama. (source, source)
- Obama has reduced taxes on the majority of Americans. (source)
- U.S. Gross Debt as a share of GDP has declined under every Democratic president since Roosevelt; it has increased under every Republican president since Nixon. (source)
- Of the 25 states that take the most from the federal government compared to what they contribute in federal taxes 21 of them voted for Bush in 2004 and 18 of them voted for McCain in 2008. (source)
- U.S. Income Tax rates are dramatically lower today than they were from 1932 to 1987 aka the American Golden Age. (source)
QUESTIONS:
- Name a successful Democracy that is politically to the right of the United States of America.
- Without requiring people to purchase health insurance how would you protect those with money and/or insurance from the unpaid bills of the poor and/or uninsured?
- Would you be comfortable saying "In Allah We Trust" as part of the Pledge of Allegiance?
- What part of Health Care Reform do you disagree with? Have you confirmed it is actually part of the bill?
- Do you believe that children born into poverty have the same opportunities for success as children born into wealth? What, if anything, should be done to start every American on more equal footing?